Sluicing

SETTING UP
After you locate gold-bearing gravel, look for a place where you can set up your sluice box in a swift flowing section of the creek. Once you find the right place, set the sluice box directly in the current so that the box is filled with water almost to the top. You need to set it up by placing the sluice box so that the upstream end is higher than the downstream end by approximately one-inch per foot of box length. If the sluice box is unstable in the stream, place a few rocks around the outside of the trough to brace it.

RUNNING THE MATERIAL
Feed the material into the upper end of the sluice box in small amounts. The material must be fed at a pace that will not overload the riffles. If you can’t see the very top of each riffle at all times, you are feeding the material too fast. Try using a 1/4 inch classifier screen on the material before dumping into the sluice box for it can save a lot time. If you overload the box or feed it too fast, YOU WILL LOSE GOLD!!!

TENDING THE SLUICE BOX
After placing each load of material into the sluice box, check the riffles for larger rocks that may be stuck in the sluice and gently remove them. When bigger rocks are allowed to stay in the riffles, they will make the current to wash out all the fines from below or downstream of the rock. If Big rocks are not removed, there is a good chance that you will LOSE GOLD! Remember to keep the tailings pile shoveled or raked away from the downstream end of the sluice.

CHECK THE SLUICE FOR SMALL PICKERS
You need to check the sluice box for small picker nuggets or larger flakes that may have been deposited on the black ribbed mat at the front of the sluice. The black ribbed mat is designed to make it easy to see GOLD while the sluice is in operation. Gold can be seen very well on the black ribbed mat while the sluice is being fed.

CLEANING THE SLUICE
When the riffles have filled with black sand and heavier materials in a way that the material goes more than halfway down to the next riffle, it is time to cleanup the sluice. Gently lift the sluice box from the stream while keeping it level. Carry it to the bank and set it down. Take the riffles and screen out and carefully shake off any material, which will be stuck to them. Place the end of the sluice in a large water filled tub and slide the carpet or moss into the tub then splash water into the sluice to clean out all of the concentrates. Set the sluice aside and pick up the carpet but don’t take it out of the tub yet. Flip the carpet upside down and rinse it thoroughly into the tub and then place the carpet or moss back in the sluice. Next pick up the screen and riffles and wash them off in the tub. The concentrated material is now ready to pan.